Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1887-01-13
IN THE MIDDLE WEST.
A Story of Life in the Great
Mississippi Valley.
BY AIvA MILTON KERR.
tUoPrmoHr. 1884 nY THE A. N. KELLOGG
NEWSPAPER CoNPANY.l
CHAPTER vnL-coSrrSu.u

CHAPTER vIII.-coSrISuun
He had come from the East bringing
letters vouching for his unusual skill
as an accountant and fidelity as a work.
man, and Joers book-keeper wishing
TO enter business for himself. tho
stranger had been employed. lie had
rooms furnished over the store and
took his meals at public house near
by, and as he dressed quietly and in
good taste. and only droppedlhere and
there n gcntlemanly word, he had ere
long an cnviablc reputation for sobriety
and business application He SEEM
ingly gave himself no recreation, though
occasionally in the evening he would
be met walking by the river. and on
Sabbath-days among the woodland
paths. just what the nature Of the
bitterness was that possessed him, IL
indeed IL were that or some secret dis
ease, or but his natural temperament,
could not be gathered from the surface
Of his life. That he had spasms
OF agony. however. that left him
well nigh exhausted was appar-
cnt, and Joel demonstrated with
him at times upon his oVer-ap-
plication. but he had only replied
that\ he was better -wlssh at work, and
continuod steadily at his task. In the
main his life was very still, much as if it
were held with kind of bated breath,
and only once had any one heard HIM
revert to his previous history. aud then
In response 10 n query of JOels he had
said he had never been married.
John Earling did not in any sense
feel moved toward this silent person,
and their acquaintance seemed to re-
main forever n partial one. Indeed.
John Earling seemed quite as intensely
occupied as he; reading, noting, com.
posing, studying, working. till every
hour was full. For every scrap Of time
had como 10 seem thing Of gold to
this unmoneyed youth. Life burned
very evenly within him, but with n
strong and melting heat that forbade
all ldleness. Yet what could he look
forward to but long hard struggle.
and perhaps eventual defeat? But that
mattered not. his life was before him,
and he went forward with earnest cheer
fulness to meet whatever it might con-
tain. This inclination and capacity OF
ours for continuous effort. be the
achievement early or late in its arrival.
might seem in some sort an inheritance
springing from long necessity. FOR we
and prior generations who have made
and ruled this lusty western realm,
have found our tasks in waiting for
Us By the cradles side, and the desire
10 labor and achieve already in the
blood, carried forward by and intensi-
led through father and son from an
original condition Of poverty perhaps
upon the old worlds shores. Glancing
nj the warm countries where life Is
easy OF fulillment, we see idleness con-
tinued as an eternal legacy, but here
was a mountain TO be built, and in the
building of il lay our fortunes and our
bread. How well and eagerly we have
wrought, the unriyaled structure stands
stupendous and rather noisy wit
ness As II nears completion, too, or
rather seeming completion for how
much shall need rebuilding remains
unsettled-wc find million gold-heaIs
have sifted from the material and have
fallen 10 the ownership of those who
wrought In the shadow Of these gilt
tcring piles the offspring Of many
whose eyes went out watching tho po-
tent sittings rise amain, have begun TO
make themselves an artificial sunshine
scarcely less productive of lazincss
than those Regions where summer Is
perpetual. Happily. however, this num-
Dor Is not rrepOnderant. and the great
mass OF laborers still swarm from base
20 apex OF the structure; widening the
foundation here, raising an abutment
there. carrying tho tower upward, ILL
ing in the assures, polishing this stone
and that, liticring il with history.
painting fair pictures upon 1t, filling II
with song and music and invention.
unit what Il shall become falls scarce
y within the marvellous compass Of
dream.